Editing a client's information

After adding a client, you can begin managing their personal information and preferences. To get started, open the client's profile and click Edit under the client's name.

In this guide, we'll cover updating the information on each tab:

• Client Info
• Billing and Insurance
• Contacts
• Client Portal

Note: To learn more about managing personal information and preferences for a couple client, see Managing and editing couple profiles.

Client Info

The Client Info tab is where you’ll manage a client's basic demographic and contact information.

Client Status

You can indicate whether a client is active, inactive, prospective, or archived.

Name

Only the Legal first name and Legal last name are required in the Name section. If you’re billing insurance, it's important that the client’s name matches exactly what's listed on their identification cards.

You can also use the What name do they go by? field to enter a client’s preferred name. This affects how the client’s name is displayed in different areas of your account.

How the client’s name is displayed depends on the context:

• When Privacy mode is On, the calendar displays initials from the name entered in What name do they go by? along with the client’s last name
• Invoices and statements display the name entered in What name do they go by?
• Superbills and insurance claim forms display the client’s legal name, since insurance companies require the name on file to match their records
• Billing document emails use the name defined by the macro in the email template

To display the preferred name in billing document emails:

1. Navigate to Settings > Client notifications > Email
2. Under Billing document emails, click the pencil icon
3. Replace the {client_legally_admissible_first_name} macro with Client First Name using the Client dropdown
   • To learn more about using macros, see Using macros in client emails and reminders
4. Click Save

Under Name, you can indicate if the client is a minor. To learn best practices for managing the profiles of minor clients, see Managing minor clients.

Clinicians (group practices only)

In a group practice, you can designate the client’s Primary clinician. Appointments you schedule for this client will be assigned to the primary clinician by default. You can also grant other clinicians in the practice access to the client profile. To learn more, see Granting and revoking clinical access.

Contact details

You can manage the client's contact information. This is where they'll receive appointment reminders and notifications.

Email

You can use this field to list the client’s email and indicate whether they consent to receiving emails from your practice. You can use the dropdown menus to designate a Type and Permission for each.

Important: The Email field should be left blank if the client is a minor and doesn’t have their own personal email address. Instead, you can add a contact’s email address to the Contacts tab of the minor client’s information settings. For more information, see Managing minor clients.

To add, edit, or delete a client's email:

• From the client's profile, click Edit > Client Info
• Under Email:
  • Click + Add address to add a new email address
  • Type into the field to edit an existing email address
  • Click the minus sign (-) to remove an existing email address

If the client is currently receiving reminders and notifications at that address, you’ll first need to disable reminders for that email address. To do this:

• Toggle the reminder and notification options to Off

• Click Save Client

When you make changes to an email associated with the client’s Client Portal access, you'll see a modal asking if you'd like to update or disable Client Portal access. Click Yes, Disable and Resend to resend a Client Portal invitation to the updated address, or Yes, Disable Access to disable Client Portal access for a deleted address.

Note: Incomplete document reminders are only available for clients who have the Client Portal enabled. To invite a client to the Client Portal, navigate to the Client Portal tab and click Send email. To learn more about client reminders, see Setting up appointment reminders.

Phone

You can use this section to list the client's phone number. Use the dropdown menus to designate a Type and Permission for each.

To add, edit, or delete a client's phone number:

• From the client's profile, click Edit > Client Info
• Under Phone:
  • Click + Add phone to add a new phone number
  • Type into the field to edit an existing phone number
  • Click the minus sign (-)  to remove an existing phone number
• Click Save Client

If the client is currently receiving reminders and notifications at that phone number, you’ll first need to disable reminders for that phone number. To do this:

• Toggle the reminder and notification options to Off
• Click Save Client

Location

If you have multiple office locations, you can set a default location for the client’s appointments. This will auto-populate as the location for any appointments you schedule moving forward. To learn more, see Adding office locations.

Address

This field should list the client’s primary address. This address will auto-populate on the client's billing documents and is required for insurance billing.

To add a client’s address, click +Address. To delete a client’s address, select the trash icon.

Tip: If your client uses insurance, you can use the Search address dropdown menu when entering their address. This will include their full 9-digit ZIP Code, which is often required for insurance claims.

About Client

You can use these fields to expand on the details of a client’s identity. These fields are all optional, unless you're billing insurance for the client. Here, you can list the following client information:

• Date of Birth
• Sex
• Gender Identity
• Relationship Status
• Employment Status
• Race & Ethnicity
• Preferred Language 
• Client Notes
• Date First Seen

Date of Birth and Sex are required fields if you’re billing insurance. The Sex field consists of a dropdown selector that will auto-populate to box 3 of the CMS-1500 claim form. Insurance payers only accept Male or Female values in that box, so this is a rigid selector field.

You can use the Gender Identity free text field to input their gender identity, pronouns, and other information important to making them feel welcome in your practice.

We also include optional reporting fields for Race, Ethnicity, and Preferred Language, as a part of our development toward Meaningful Use compliance under the HITECH act. You can use the Race & Ethnicity Details free text field to record any additional details that are relevant to a client’s background, like their country of origin or tribal affiliation.

Referred By

You can use this field to indicate the referral source for a client. You can search for an existing referral source or add a new one. To enter a new referral source:

• From the client's profile, click Edit > Client Info
• Under Referred By, select a referral source from the dropdown menu
• You can type in the referral source to search or click + Create new referral to enter a new one

• Click Save Client

The referral source for a client will be recorded in the Referral income report in your account, including the Total Revenue and total number of Referrals for each source. For more information about this report, see Understanding your income reports.

Billing and Insurance

Tip: If you're billing a client through insurance, see Setting up insurance billing for your clients.

Billing Type

Here, you can indicate whether the client will be Self-pay or billed through Insurance for individual and group appointments. This will determine the Billing type for each kind of appointment.

Autogenerate Billing Documents

Under Autogenerate Billing Documents, you can choose to generate monthly statements and superbills for this client.

Tip: Invoice creation settings can only be adjusted on a practice level. To learn more, see Setting up automations for billing documents.

Email Billing Notifications

Under Email Billing Notifications, you can indicate if your client would like to: 

• Receive billing documents as an attachment sent directly via email or
• Receive an email notification prompting them to sign into their Client Portal when new billing documents become available

Credit & Debit Cards

If you have online payments enabled in your account, you can add, edit, or delete a client's credit card information. To do this:

• From the client's profile, click Edit > Billing and Insurance
• Under Credit & Debit Cards:
  • Click + Card to add a new card
  • Click Edit to edit an existing card
  • Click the trash can icon to delete an existing card
• Click Save Client

To learn how to request new credit card information from clients, see Credit card information form.

Insurance Information

You can use these fields to enter a client’s insurance information. For more information, see Insurance Info.

Authorization tracking

Certain insurance plans will require prior authorization in order for a client to be eligible for coverage. To add a prior authorization number to your client's file, click + Authorization number. This will auto-populate the prior authorization number into box 23 of the client's insurance claims. For more information, see Using Authorization Tracking.

Insurance Claim/CMS Fields

To enable additional fields for the client's insurance claims, check the box next to Show additional claim fields.

Note: Most insurance payers don't require these fields. If you're unsure if a field needs to be completed on a claim, please reach out to the payer directly for confirmation. To learn more, see Filing primary claims in SimplePractice.

Client Default Services

To set a default service for the client, select a service code from the dropdown and adjust the rate as needed. This default service code and rate will populate when you create new appointments for this client and to box 24d of claim forms. You can update a client's default service at any time.

Note: You can manage the services available for your account at Settings > Billing & Services > Services. For more information, see Creating and using service codes.

Contacts

If you'd like to list an emergency contact, third-party beneficiary, or guardian in a client's profile, you can add them as a new contact in the Contacts tab. 

To get started, click + Add contact.

From the Contacts tab, you can click Manage next to an existing contact to make changes to their information or settings.

To learn more about creating a contact and managing their Client Portal and billing settings, see Managing client contacts.

Client Portal

The Client Portal tab is where you'll manage a client's Client Portal access. You can choose which Client Portal features the client will have permissions for, enable or disable their access, and update the email associated with their access.

For more information on the options here, see Managing Client Portal permissions for a client.

If your client is experiencing difficulties with Client Portal sign-in, you can generate a one-time pin code from this page. To learn more, see Assisting clients with signing in to the Client Portal.